Car got hit by uninsured driver...rant

[jer0177]

Friday night I was on my way home with my girlfriend when I was stopped at a stoplight.  A guy in a Durango rear-ended me while we were stopped. 

He has no driver's license, the insurance policy on the vehicle was not valid (under his wife/gf/?'s name), AND he had alcohol on his breath.   

I flagged down a passing officer just after it happened, they exchanged information, performed a field sobriety test on him (he failed 2 of 6 markers, so they couldn't pursue it), and let him go (as in drive away).   

I didn't have collision on my policy, so now I'm stuck with the bill. 

<rant>I work.  I pay my bills.  Someone else takes from me and there's nothing I can do about it.  A civil suit could be filed, but even if I win, they most likely have no assets to pay the suit.  How does someone get by with this shite?  What happened to personal responsibility?  What happened to personal pride?</rant>

<valk related>So now I have to ride the Valkyrie until I can figure out what to do with the car, because not only was there damage in the rear, the radiator fan caught the fan shroud when the car was hit and it sheared the fan blades off.</valk related>

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

Had uninsured person frontal hit my wifes new Corolla as in 3 months old. They let him go knowing he was from out of state. Asked officer why he said we can take it up in court but he needed me to show up. I showed up just for the officer to approach me there after an hour and say he didn't show up. I told him " NO KIDDING"  fortunately for me I had uninsured motorists. Yes it is sad that we have to not only carry proper insurance for ourselves but pay for extra insurance for those to cheap too get their own. I feel for ya.  

[Oss]

no insurance/license

Operated a vehicle with no license or insurance to me should be a felony

sorry but if I was the LEO I would arrest him and restitution is part of the sentence

I would call for the watch commander or captain so he knows this will make the papers

you know we want to get the spelling of his name right for the news


but what the heck do I know I am a civil attorney not criminal

[jer0177]

fortunately for me I had uninsured motorists. Yes it is sad that we have to not only carry proper insurance for ourselves but pay for extra insurance for those to cheap too get their own. I feel for ya.  

Here's the kicker.  I have UM (Uninsured Motorist) and UIM (UnderInsured Motorist) coverages on my policy, but here in the great communistwealth of Pennsylvania, those only cover injury, not property damage. 

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

fortunately for me I had uninsured motorists. Yes it is sad that we have to not only carry proper insurance for ourselves but pay for extra insurance for those to cheap too get their own. I feel for ya.  

Here's the kicker.  I have UM (Uninsured Motorist) and UIM (UnderInsured Motorist) coverages on my policy, but here in the great communistwealth of Pennsylvania, those only cover injury, not property damage.  

  Grew up in Pa.  Levittown. Moved to TN 26 years ago, KY as of Dec of 2011.......

[Jack]

Its the same all over.  Been there.  Done that. 

[Oss]

correct SUM/UM is for if you or a family member residing with you was hurt and the owner of the other vehicle either has no insurance or  the statutory minimum.  There are special rules about claiming (do it by cert mail RRR when you file the claim- how to settle and get permission to settle - dont skimp use a good attorney if you have a claim)

I carry the same limit as my liability on my SUM/UM

If some jerk turns in front of me or rear ends me I know there is a big pot of money for my family to live while I get better   either 250k or 500k     I carry this on all the cars too and have posted the why several times over the years

[doubletee]

No driver's license and the cop let him drive away?! So aggravating. I'm with you....tired of making the effort and spending the money to be an upstanding citizen, and miscreants like that get away without being held accountable for much of anything.

Sorry for your bad experience.

[old2soon]

Sooooo how bad was yer back messed up in this horrendous accident you were put through???? On one hand i don't really advocate breaking the law on the other-well just thinkin out loud i guess.   We have a lot of police reports in our weekly paper here and at a guess it's flirting with about 40% uninsured/underinsured here in the Ozarks. Gives me a real warm fuzzy just thinkin bout this on my Valkyrie or in my cage. I really hope and pray you DO NOT come up holding the stinky end of that particular stick!! As a side note-here in Mo. you have to have a current/valid operators permit/licsense a current vehicle inspection and minimum insurance set by Mo. law. Even my agent(Shelter Ins)told me he sells a lot of ONE MONTH rider policies. He sells a lot of 3 month ins policies also. Looks like we all throw the dice wether we know it or not. DID NOT mean to hijack the thread and i apoligize. RIDE SAFE.

[fiddle mike]

In Corpus Christi, the cops just give the offender the business card of the brother-in-law who sells insurance (if she's Hispanic)... if they even do that.  Offenders are supposed to have their tags confiscated.  All the laws on the books don't mean anything if the cops are too lazy or biased to enforce them. 

[Jack]

Unless they changed it while I lived in New Orleans, Arkansas is a per-cent-of-fault-state which means you may be sued by the person who caused the accident even if they are uninsured.  You are personally at fault a degree by being in a moving vehicle at the time of the accident and more so if you were talking on a cell phone or changing a radio station at the time.  Dunno, of course, about your state.

[fudgie]

No driver's license and the cop let him drive away?! So aggravating. I'm with you....tired of making the effort and spending the money to be an upstanding citizen, and miscreants like that get away without being held accountable for much of anything.

Sorry for your bad experience.

Thats normal practice. They will get him a warrent a few days later.

[fudgie]

We got t-bones in the ambulance by a guy that has no lisc, no insurance, and no plates.  Totaled his truck and prob (hopefully) totaled our ambulance. Hit us right square in the box. We drove the 70 miles back home.

[cookiedough]

Each state can be different as far as insurance goes.  I had similar accident 3 years ago with idiot rear ending my then new 30K tundra truck dropping our kids off at school.  He was following too close and his windshield was frozen over never saw me hitting my rear bumper and wiring harness about 10 mph and his entire front end of his P.O.S. junker car got under my bumper doing 1,000's in repair to his vehicle and about 1K new bumper needed and new wiring harness on my truck is all.  He had no insurance, no job, not a penny to his name.  We got an accident report from local cop LUCKILY (always do that NO MATTER WHAT) and cop never even gave him a ticket for inattentive driving.  Well, he kept telling me he would pay for like 10 months still driving around with bent wiring harness and dented bumper on a new 30K truck.  Finally, I had enough after several calls to him and he finally answered my phone call telling me to leave him alone, he has no money and no job, etc., and if I bothered him again he was going to file a lawsuit against me for harrassment.  I hung up, next day got a court order for appearance in small claims court nearby.  He was served the papers, never showed up in small claims court, won my full amount of case for little over 1K. He still never paid me.  So, in WI anyways, I went to Dept. of MOtor Vehicle, got forms with court order won and police report, and WI sent him a letter telling him he needed to pay me and settle small claim court amount with me by a set future date OTHERWISE HIS DRIVERS LICENSE WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FOR 20 YEARS.  No joke, he got that letter and called me up ASAP and he took out his retirement money to pay me and other bills he owed.  Moral of story, if you do not have adequate insurance or do not want to pay thru your own insurance company thus probably increasing your rates, then make sure you get accident police report, go to small claims court, win your case, go to DMV also and that should get their attention I hope. 

[SPOFF]

No driver's license and the cop let him drive away?!

Not in this state. He'd be in cuffs and looking at jail time.

[Mountainman]

Years ago I won a suit in small clames court and still he would not pay up.
The next step was a Sheriffs sale of his house hold goods, a a pile of junk.
I called a few freinds and got my trailer ready to buy and go to the dump and burn it all.
Then one day before the sale I hear a knock at the door and an envelope with the check in it.
I look down the drive and see his truck beating a hasty retreat.

Junk or not it takes what it takes, I got my money and it included the court costs, he lost in more than one way.

[jer0177]

Years ago I won a suit in small clames court and still he would not pay up.
The next step was a Sheriffs sale of his house hold goods, a a pile of junk.
I called a few freinds and got my trailer ready to buy and go to the dump and burn it all.
Then one day before the sale I hear a knock at the door and an envelope with the check in it.
I look down the drive and see his truck beating a hasty retreat.

Junk or not it takes what it takes, I got my money and it included the court costs, he lost in more than one way.

I've gone through this process before, but it's a P.I.T.A.  I'm not sure this guy has anything of value to begin with, aside from the durango that hit me, but even that's pretty beat. 

[YoungPUP]

He may not have crap to begin with , but just look at it as returning the favor for f^&#ing up your day...

[WamegoRob]

just look at it as returning the favor

I like where your head's at...   

[cookiedough]

Yeah, it was a PITA, but after 10 months of him telling me he will pay, he will pay, I had enough.  In the end, it was worth it, but if he damaged my new truck any further, I would have jumped on his ass a lot sooner.  At least my truck was driveable and his car was toast.  I just wish I had my receiver hitch on that day since his radiator would've been shot as well being totally undriveable with hood smashed along with grill and left front quarter panel.

[jer0177]

This is the 4th time I've been rear-ended.

The first two were in my trucks.  First one was '85 Chevy 1/2 ton 2wd, with the ball mount in.  The Escort that hit me had to be towed away.  The second was in my '79 GMC 1/2 ton 4wd lifted. The Aerio that hit me then had to be towed away too.

Third time I was on my Shadow.  I was hit at about 25mph.  Wearing full gear (in December).  Bike had to be towed home, I got up and walked away though, with only a little bit of road rash through my jeans.  The Accord that hit me was still drivable.

This time, it was a Durango.  Not sure how fast he was going, but his airbags didn't pop.  Wish I had been in my truck at the time, I wouldn't be going through all this crap.

Picked up a used truck lid for $80 today, ordered most of the other parts - came to $292.  Have a body shop that'll do the paint work for about $1400.   

[doubletee]

No driver's license and the cop let him drive away?!

Not in this state. He'd be in cuffs and looking at jail time.

As it should be (IMO).